According to Seeking Alpha, companies such as BitMine and SharpLink are now staking billions of dollars of ETH to generate predictable income streams. Staking is like putting money in a savings account, but instead of a bank paying you, the Ethereum network pays you for helping to keep it running. This is not speculation. It is balance sheet engineering. By staking or lending ETH, treasuries reduce circulating liquidity while creating new sources of revenue.

Why Ethereum Treasuries Matter for Wall Street and Main Street

According to Yellow.com, when ETH is staked, it generates yields in the range of 3 to 5%, often more than government bonds. ETH can also be deployed into lending markets, collateralized for credit, or structured into financial products.

Traditional staking locks ETH away, which can be a problem if a company suddenly needs access to its capital. This is where liquid staking comes in.

Think of it like a CD at the bank. With a CD, you earn interest but cannot touch the money until it matures. Liquid staking is like earning that same interest, but also getting a certificate you can borrow against, trade, or even spend while your deposit keeps working for you.

For businesses, this is powerful because treasuries often need flexibility. They may want yield but also need to cover expenses or seize an opportunity on short notice. Liquid staking gives them both: productive assets and working capital.

In Europe, liquid staking products have already been wrapped into regulated funds and exchange-traded products, allowing family offices and corporates to adopt the strategy without losing liquidity. Examples include Lido’s stETH and Rocket Pool’s rETH, which give holders a token they can move freely while still earning staking rewards. European adoption shows that liquid staking is not theory but an established practice that provides a roadmap for U.S. institutions.

This matters well beyond Fortune 500 CFOs.

A local business with extra reserves could stake a small amount of ETH to earn yield, much like putting idle cash to work in a savings account. A nonprofit could hold a fraction of its treasury in Ethereum ETFs to diversify beyond cash and bonds. Everyday investors could treat ETH staking like a higher-yield alternative to a bank account, understanding that the risks are different but the principle is similar — turning savings into income.

Paul Frambot, CEO and co-founder of Morpho, the second largest lending protocol, emphasizes why risk safeguards are central here. “For institutions to adopt ETH treasuries at scale, they need the same credit and liquidity safeguards they expect in traditional finance. We are already seeing fintechs use DeFi lending as infrastructure, and corporate treasuries are following the same path. The difference is that Ethereum gives them programmable and transparent rails.”

The Institutional Playbook For Ethereum

Institutions are beginning to establish a treasury playbook for Ethereum.

1. Staking remains the backbone. Billions of dollars in ETH are deployed through platforms such as Lido, Coinbase, or direct validators, generating reliable yields.
2. DeFi lending protocols such as Morpho and Spark allow ETH treasuries to lend and borrow in ways that optimize yield. This is similar to how fintechs are already using Ethereum as financial infrastructure.
3. ETFs provide regulated wrappers for exposure and liquidity. These products make it easier for institutions to manage ETH holdings under traditional compliance frameworks.
4. Liquid staking products create balance sheet flexibility, allowing ETH to earn rewards while still being usable. Europe’s early adoption shows how powerful this can be.
5. Custody and governance solutions are emerging to manage risks such as withdrawal delays or penalties. Specialized custodians and smart contract managers are building tools designed for CFO-level assurance.

Sam MacPherson, CEO of Phoenix Labs and co-founder behind Spark, explains the two most important sources of yield in practice. “When it comes to ETH, most of the fundamental yield comes from staking. I expect that actually to expand as more use cases in crypto come. Then there are onchain crypto lending markets such as SparkLend. These are people who are borrowing stablecoins. They have some ETH or Bitcoin, and want more exposure to the asset. So they’ll borrow stablecoins on an onchain market, and lever up that way, and they’re usually willing to pay a premium on top of the more base rate in TradFi.”

A Corporate Strategy Shift

These playbooks are not just about squeezing out returns. They point to a deeper shift in how companies treat digital assets. ETH is not simply something to hold on the side of the balance sheet. It is becoming a productive working asset.

For investors, that means ETH is starting to look less like a speculative token and more like a hybrid between a growth stock and a bond — combining upside with regular yield. For businesses, it means treasury management is evolving. Where once the choice was between cash, bonds, or equities, ETH now represents a new category.

Kean Gilbert, Head of Institutional at the Lido Ecosystem Foundation, highlights this rotation. “Institutional money is rotating into Ethereum because ETH is both productive and liquid. That is a major change from Bitcoin reserves. This is not just holding crypto, it is re-engineering corporate digital asset strategy around programmable yield.”

The Challenges Ahead For Ethereum Treasuries

Several hurdles still need to be addressed. Risk management remains central, from validator penalties to smart contract exploits. Liquidity versus lockup is a real tradeoff, since staking yields require time commitments and occasional withdrawal delays. Liquid staking reduces this friction, but it still introduces complexity and counterparty risk.

Regulation adds another layer of uncertainty. The SEC has raised questions about whether staking counts as a securities offering, while Europe has taken a more favorable approach with Ethereum ETFs and liquid staking products. Finally, governance questions remain: who decides how ETH treasuries are deployed, the CFO, the board, or specialized committees?

The Road Ahead For Ethereum Treasuries

Ethereum treasuries are becoming the next big business strategy. ETH serves a dual role: a strategic reserve asset and a yield-bearing instrument. That combination is powerful. In the coming years, we may see treasuries managed like corporate bond portfolios, balancing staking, lending, liquid staking, and ETF exposure.

Platforms such as Lido, Spark, and Morpho may emerge as the BlackRock or Fidelity equivalents of Ethereum treasuries, building the rails that allow adoption at scale. More broadly, Ethereum is evolving into the financial operating system for balance sheets — from global corporations to local businesses to everyday investors.

Ethereum treasuries are not simply digital reserves. They represent a new kind of financial strategy: programmable, productive, and accessible.

The question is no longer whether ETH belongs in a portfolio, but how much, and how to manage it responsibly at scale.

Ethereum treasuries will impact the markets.